page_title: Tonga
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Tonga / Politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of George Tupou I, King of Tonga. This image is in an album of photographs representing imagery of Tonga belonging to James Edge-Partington. It is unknown whether Edge-Partington photographed these images himself or whether they have been photographed by different individuals.
context_page_description: Tonga is a country in Pacific Ocean. It has 169 islands. Only 36 islands have inhabitants. The most important island is Tongatapu. George Tupou V is the king of Tonga and the Prime Minister is Pohiva Tu'ionetoa. The capital of Tonga is Nuku'alofa.
  The official languages of Tonga are Tongan and English. Tonga had 102,321 inhabitants in 2000. It is a very hot country. Tonga became independent in 1970.
context_section_description: Tonga is a constitutional monarchy.
  Tonga provides for its citizens:
  free and mandatory education for all
  secondary education with only nominal fees
  and foreign-funded scholarships for post-secondary education
  Tongans have universal access to a national health care system. The Tongan constitution protects land ownership. Land cannot be sold to foreigners. While there is a land shortage on the urbanised main island of Tongatapu, there is farmland available in the outlying islands.
  The majority of the population engages in some form of subsistence production of food. Women and men have equal access to education and health care. They are fairly equal in employment. Women are discriminated against in land holding, electoral politics, and government ministries.
caption: Tāufaʻāhau, King of Tonga (1845–1893).
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